Hegumen

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Hegumen

Hegumen, hegumenos, or ihumen (; Macedonian

Macedonian language

Macedonian is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia and is a part of the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. Macedonian is closely related to and shares a high degree of mutual intelligibility with the Bulgarian language, Serbian language, Bosnian language, and Croatian language languages....
, Bulgarian

Bulgarian language

Bulgarian is an Indo-European languages, a member of the Slavic languages linguistic group.Bulgarian demonstrates several linguistic innovations that set it apart from all other Slavic languages except Macedonian language, such as the elimination of grammatical case, the development of a suffixed definite article , the lack of a verb infin...
and Russian

Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
: ??????, trans

Transliteration

Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice....
. igumen; Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic languages of the Slavic languages. It is the official language of Ukraine. In some areas of Russia there are dialects, Balachka or Surzhyk, which are the Ukrainianized versions of the Russian language....
: ?????? ihumen; , igumeni; ; Serbian

Serbian language

Monastery

Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
or Eastern Catholic Churches, similar to the one of abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
. The head of a convent

Convent

A convent may refer to a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or it may refer to the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion....
of nun

Nun

A Nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. She may be an monasticism who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent....
s is called hegumenia or ihumenia (; Serbian

Serbian language

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Hegumen, hegumenos, or ihumen (; Macedonian

Macedonian language

Bulgarian language

Russian language

Russian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe....
: ??????, trans

Transliteration

Transliteration is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice....
. igumen; Ukrainian

Ukrainian language

Serbian language

Monastery

Eastern Orthodox Church

Abbot

Convent

Nun

Serbian language

name=Serbian|nativename=|pronunciation=['sr?pski?]|familycolor=Indo-European|map=|states=See below under "Official status", besides that in Croatia and as an immigrant's language spread over Central Europe and Western Europe, as well as Northern America...
: ????????? or Igumanija; ). The term means "the one who is in charge", "the leader" in Greek.

Initially the title was applied to the head of any monastery. After 1874, when the Russian monasteries were secularized and classified into three classes, the title of hegumen was reserved only for the lowest, third class. The head of a monastery of the second or first class holds the rank of archimandrite

Archimandrite

The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise several 'ordinary' abbots and monasteries, or to the abbot of some especially great and important monastery....
. In the Greek Catholic Church

Greek Catholic Church

Greek Catholic Church is a term which refers to the Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite liturgical tradition. It can also refer to the Roman Catholicism in Greece....
, the head of all monasteries in a certain territory is called the protohegumen.

The duties of both hegumen and archimandrite are the same, archimandrite being considered the senior dignity of the two. In the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known as the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia, is a body of Christianity who constitute an Autocephaly Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow, in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches....
the title of Hegumen may be granted as an honorary title to any hieromonk

Hieromonk

Hieromonk A hieromonk can be either a monk who has been ordination to the priesthood, or a priest who has received monastic tonsure.Ordination to the priesthood is the exception rather than the rule for Christian monasticism, but is still more common than a priest entering monastic life, as only married men or monks are ordained priests....
, even one who does not head a monastery.

A ruling hegumen is formally installed in a ceremony by the bishop, during which he is presented with his pastoral staff (Greek: paterissa, Slavonic: ??????, palitsa). Among the Russians, the pastoral staff for a Hegumen tends to be of wood (usually ebony), rather than metal. The hegumen is awarded the gold pectoral cross

Pectoral cross

A pectoral cross or pectorale is a Christian cross, usually large, suspended from the neck by a cord or Link chain. Most pectoral crosses are made of precious metals and some contain precious or semi-precious gems....
by the bishop, as for an archpriest

Archpriest

An archpriest is a priest who has supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, although it may be used in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church instead of Dean or vicar forane....
. During divine services the hegumen wears a simple black monastic mantle, while the higher ranking archimandrite wears a mantle similar to one worn by a bishop (though without the white "rivers" along the sides, and decorated with unadorned "tablets" at the neck and feet). An archimandrite also wears a mitre

MITRE

The Mitre Corporation, officially trademarked as MITRE, is a public-interest not-for-profit organization based in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia....
similar to one worn by a bishop; a hegumen does not (however, in the Russian tradition, a bishop may grant an hegumen the privilege

Privilege

A privilege—etymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual—is a special entitlement or immunity granted by a government or other authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis....
of wearing the mitre as an ecclesiastical award). A hegumen may carry his pastoral staff in processions and when giving blessings in the church (though it is never carried into the sanctuary), although it usually stands upright next to his kathisma

Kathisma

A Kathisma , literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used by Eastern Orthodox Church Christians and Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine rite....
(monastic choir stall). When outside the church, a hegumen may use a wooden walking stick

Walking stick

A walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing whilst walking. It may be used as a defensive or offensive weapon, and may conceal a knife or sword as in a swordstick....
similar to that used by a bishop or archimandrite, only not adorned with a silver knob.